What a big fortnight at TPS!

We are heading into the final stretch for 2025, but still have so much happening. Please make sure you check out the key dates to ensure you don't miss out on anything.

2026 School Structure / Step up sessions

In 2026 we welcome 28 new Foundation students to Tongala Primary School. They have been loving their transition sessions here at school, and will be ready and raring to go when school resumes for Day 1 in 2026 on Thursday, January 29th.

We have been able to lock in our school structure for 2026. With large numbers in our junior school and trying to keep these class sizes to a minimum, it does create different structures. Schools of our size are largely driven by cohort numbers at each year level, and 2026 is no different. 

Class structure makes no difference to the quality of teaching and learning, and we are so lucky to have such a talented and committed team of teachers here at Tongala PS.

2026 class structure will be:

2 x Prep/1

2 x Grade 2/3's

Grade 4

2 x Grade 5/6.

Teacher allocation and specialist classes are yet to be finalised, but we will definitely have this in place by the Statewide transition day on December 9th.

In the lead up to this date, students will take part in 2 x Step Up sessions, which will allow all students to experience what next year may be like, finalise cohorts of students and allow us to ensure we hit 2026 in a smooth and organised way.

Some of our Grade 6 students have already been to their new Secondary School for next year and looking forward to their Step Up programs in coming weeks.

School Fete

Where do I begin?

What an amazing evening we had last Friday night, with a great turn out for the school Fete. The night was jam packed filled with fun, laughter, lots of great activities, fabulous music and delicious food and drink options. 

The fete takes a lot of work to put together, and we have already thanked so many of our generous sponsors and helpers throughout the evening.

I do want to make mention of 2 groups of people. Firstly, our amazing Tongala PS staff who gave up their time on Friday evening to support the running of the Fete, as well as created posters, organised donations and assisted with the setting up.

Finally to our Fete committee who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, meeting regularly and taking on various roles to ensure the evening was a success. Cherish Todd, who took on the lead role was well supported by the following members of the Fete committee:

Kellie Brennan, Carly Mullins, Kirsten Walker, Karlie Cox, Kaitlyn Ohlsen, Sheree Marsh, Tracey Hughes, Zara Colbert and Emma Michelmore.

We are probably still a couple of weeks away from finalising the final total, but the funds raised will be going towards the purchase and installation of 2 outdoor table tennis tables for our students to use.

I hope everyone who came had an enjoyable evening.

Story Writing Competition

Our Story Writing Competition has been run and won and what amazing stories we produced. I had the pleasure of being able to read all 140 stories from Foundation to Grade 6 and the quality was incredible. 

The thing that stood out to me was the fabulous use of language and the pride in presentation of each story.

Unfortunately, at each year level we can only have 3 winners, under the categories of Best Narrative, Most Creative and Best Illustrations.

Congratulations to the following students, whose Best Narrative story will get published into a book that will be placed in our school library:

Foundation - Mia K

Grade 1 - Amber C

Grade 2 - Penny B

Grade 3 - Lucy G

Grade 4 - Oscar W

Grade 5 - Ava D

Grade 6 - Anika H

Keep an eye out for the next edition of the Tonny Times for an article and photos of our winners.

Have a great weekend everyone

Rob